Kinship Care Allowances

On 1st October 2015 an agreement between the Scottish Government and local authorities came into force to ensure the same payment of allowances between kinship carers and foster carers. This does not apply to all kinship carers but it does apply to:

All kinship carers where the child is “looked after”

Some kinship carers where the child is not looked after but has a Section 11 Order (now also known as a Kinship Care Order) and is or was:

previously looked after

placed with involvement of the Local Authority

at risk of becoming looked after

Kinship carers covered by this agreement should receive an allowance at a minimum of the same rate as foster carers in their Local Authority.

Some kinship carers will be eligible for child related benefits which cover accommodation and maintenance. If a kinship carer receives any child related benefits such as Child Tax Credit then this may have an impact on their kinship allowances. This depends on how the Local Authority makes your payments. Please ask your Local Authority to confirm how they pay you and how that impacts on you.

However, there are additional costs associated with caring for a child in kinship care such as (but not restricted to) increased travel costs related to family contact. A financial allowance is intended to help with these costs and this is not a top up of benefits. It is intended to ensure that eligible children who are the subjects of a Kinship Care Order are not disadvantaged compared to their peers.

Each Local Authority should publish a revised Kinship and Fostering Allowances Policy which should include key details of entitlements, eligibility criteria, how it will be assessed, where more information can be found, where complaints can be made and any other relevant information.